8 gauge shotguns

S

swopjan

New member
Have been looking around the internet a bit but not finding a whole lot of information on them except that they are illegal for duck hunting in the U.S. However, i'm willing to bet they would attract a few spectators and make for quite a day at the range if you don't mind icing your shoulder for a day or three afterwards.

Does anyone have any experience with these, or know of a site where i could view some for sale? couldn't find much on gunbroker or anywhere else, and i imagine they're very expensive but what the heck, it's on the wish list and i'm still young.
 
Most 8 gauge guns these days are industrial kiln guns, used to blast chunks of material from kiln walls. I don't know of any modern sporting firearms that are barreled in 8 gauge. Ammo would be problematic, although not impossible.

Link here for the Remington Industrial site.

One alternative would be to build an 8 gauge muzzle loading shotgun, using black powder as a propellant.
 
knew of those, but never saw one before. think that would draw even more of a crowd :D

never thought of building one, either. would prefer something that takes shells, i believe there were sporting guns that accepted shells as i've seen reloading components for sale here and there, but blackpowder would do fine.

how difficult/complicated would it be to build one? are there any custom shops that specialize in, or would at least be capable of, producing guns like this?
 
Me shooting a muzzle loading 8 gauge.

img_0499a.jpg


8 gauge next to 12 gauge for comparison.

IMG_1127.jpg
 
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how did it feel? a bit rougher than my 30-06 i'll bet, looks like you could load just powder and still bump off a few birds at some distance. :D

sad to admit, but when it comes to shotguns i own a .410 and a 12 gauge but i've only ever fired Dad's 20 gauge pump, trap loads i think. was slightly disappointed with it, sister always complained about the recoil but when i got my hands on it didn't feel a kick at all and it was before that range got a machine to chuck clay pigeons so i got to shoot at dirt.

where and how did you get to shoot that?



and i've got enough years left that $7,500 for a nice double 8-gauge makes me wince but isn't out of the question. much cheaper than an Anzio Ironworks 20mm rifle, and prettier to boot!
 
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Go to Doublegun Shop,com and you'll be able to find out about 8 gas. In a lot of states they are illegal for hunting any game. Loading info and shells are available, little pricey to get into.
 
One of the local gunshops had a whole box of Winchester 8 gauge paper slugs. He was selling them by the piece for 5$. Should have got one to sit on the self, but didn't. The shells were huge!! It looked like somebody cut off a 2inch piece of a 1inch solid lead pipe, and shoved it in the hull. It wasn't rounded like slugs are today, it was just flat. Can't believe I didn't get one.

Antique Shooter
 
everything i find seems to point to the UK. is it illegal to buy a foreign-made double shotgun and bring it into or have it shipped to the US? i know there's some restrictions requiring foreign firearms to have a certain number of specific American-made parts, does this also apply to double or single shotguns? what about antiques, like most of the 8 gauges i've seen?
 
The 8 gauge we had at our power plant replaced the Remington 12 gauges we kept wearing out and was tripod-mounted for blowing slag off the boiler walls. The gun was rented from Winchester and the ammo purchased directly from them

Swopjan - since a 12 gauge pheasant load of 1-1/4 oz @ 1300 or so is right at a 30-06, the 8 gauge will have more recoil
 
swopjan said:
how did it feel? a bit rougher than my 30-06 i'll bet, looks like you could load just powder and still bump off a few birds at some distance.

sad to admit, but when it comes to shotguns i own a .410 and a 12 gauge but i've only ever fired Dad's 20 gauge pump, trap loads i think. was slightly disappointed with it, sister always complained about the recoil but when i got my hands on it didn't feel a kick at all and it was before that range got a machine to chuck clay pigeons so i got to shoot at dirt.

where and how did you get to shoot that?
Click to expand...

It really wasn't that bad because that gun weighs about 12 pounds. There is actually a lot of overlap between 10 and 8 gauge and even magnum 12 gauge.
I'd rather shoot 'target' loads out of an 8 than 3.5 inch magnums out of a 12.

That picture was taken at the Texas Muzzleloading Rifle Association shoot in Brady TX, the gun belonged to a gentleman from Houston and was custom built by the late Ralph Austin I think. A lot of the finer and more historically accurate muzzleloaders are custom built by individual gunsmiths, sort of a cottage industry, and you won't find them at BassPro or Cabelas.
 
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